Trading is as much art as science. And while the “science” behind my bullishness on Riverbed Technology Inc. (RVBD) hasn’t changed while it’s been crushed from the $40s to $20, I’ve been saying things like this about my approach to Riverbed:

Q: What is your strategy, if any, moving forward with RVBD?A: I’d gotten rather lucky with the Riverbed trade as we’d sold most of our common and calls when it was near its highs and I’d explained this strategy in detail as I was doing it. The calls I own are now far out of the money but they still have a few months on them, so I’m holding them steady for now. I do plan on buying my full Riverbed common and call positions back in coming days or weeks but am in no rush. (from: Transcript from chat)

And:

Q: Last week you said we were going to scale into some of our RVBD calls. I am waiting for an update on when we are going to buy some. Today the stock tanked again by 9% in the morning and looks like its recovering a bit. Is this the right time to buy some long-term calls? On the other hand, while looking at the charts for this stock for 2 years, the stock has been up from $15 in July 2010 to $30 now even after taking a hit after earnings. Looks like a topping pattern to me.A: Regarding RVBD — today’s big hit is because of Juniper’s ugly guidance and commentary. Juniper, Cisco, F5, APKT, ARUN and the lot are taking it on the chin. I’m looking three to four years out and I think RVBD and some of those others will be much higher. Not a rush right now though, recall that I’d sold my common down and kept some of the higher priced calls and that’s helped stop me out at higher levels than these. (from: Questions and Answers from Chat)

I’ve now finally stepped up and done my first purchase of some Riverbed since then. I’m buying calls dated out to December and January around the $25 strike price. First tranche of what I expect will be about three or four tranches of Riverbed repurchasing.

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About The Cody Word

Cody Willard writes the Revolution Investing investment newsletter for MarketWatch and posts the trades from his personal account at TradingWithCody.com He is the founder of WallStreetAll-Stars.com and the principal of CL Willard Capital. Cody serves as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University and is on the University of New Mexico Alumni Board. He was an anchor on the Fox Business Network, where he was the co-host of the long-time #1-rated show on the network, Fox Business Happy Hour. Cody, a former hedge fund manager, and his stock picks and economic outlooks have been featured on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, ABC’s 20/20, CBS Evening News, CNBC’s SquawkBox, Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, as well as in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and many other outlets.